


this road can't be mine

by ahnakins



Series: the stars and the wars and greek mythology [3]
Category: Star Wars
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Eurydice!Padmé, F/M, Orpheus!Anakin, Romance, The Dark Side of the Force, The Force, Tragedy, anakin skywalker is ridiculously strong in the force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 00:44:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7992328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahnakins/pseuds/ahnakins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anakin draws everyone’s eyes, but there is only one thing that draws Anakin’s eyes.</p><p>(loosely based off the orpheus and eurydice myth)</p>
            </blockquote>





	this road can't be mine

Anakin Skywalker is the most gifted in the Force.

The stories about him stretch across the galaxy. They say that both suns and moons bow to him. In the Outer Rim, they whisper that the could crush an entire planet with a gesture. 

Anakin draws everyone’s eyes, but there is only one thing that draws Anakin’s eyes.

Padmé Amidala is a Senator from quiet Naboo, but Padmé is anything but quiet.

Her voice rings loud and clear across the Senate, and every speech is met with applause. It’s superstition in the Senate that no one can lose to Senator Amidala.

Together, the couple are unstoppable.

Or, they would be, if people knew about them.

They keep it a secret, because Anakin is a Jedi, and Padmé is a Senator.

They meet only in secret, under full moons and glittering stars. Anakin points out each of them to Padmé, and she doesn’t know if it’s the Force or her imagination, but each time he points at a star it seems to glow brighter.

Anakin would do anything for Padmé.

So when the dreams start, Anakin is ready to give up everything.

 

* * *

 

Supreme Chancellor Palpatine acts sneakily, planting seeds in the minds of all he touches, seeds that will grow to create the forest that is his master plan. It’s easy to get lost in the forest.

Anakin gets lost.

In a blind panic, Anakin turns to the Sith. It’s the only way he can save his beloved.

Palpatine welcomes his new protégé with open arms, promising Padmé’s safety and health.

“My dear boy,” he says, a hint of laughter in his gravelly voice. “The Force is your friend. There is no need to be afraid anymore.”

Anakin listens. He understands. He tries to believe. He can’t.

Fear plagues Anakin like a disease, He can’t sleep, can’t eat. He never leaves Padmé’s side, and his security measures have become obsessive.

It’s not enough for him. He is still afraid.

Secretly, Palpatine relishes in his apprentice’s pain. Anakin only grows stronger, his fear being transformed into a weapon against Palpatine’s enemies.

Slowly, the galaxy crumbles beneath Anakin’s fist, 

When Palpatine is no longer Chancellor, but Emperor, Padmé asks Anakin to take a break.

“We’re always going off places. I’m tired. You’re stressed,” she says. “Ask Palpatine for a holiday. We can go to Naboo — you love Naboo. We’ll go into Lake Country. It’ll be like old times,” she finishes, tracing her fingers along Anakin’s shoulder.

Anakin swallows, takes a deep breath, and nods.

Neither of them voices the fact that it will be impossible to ever go back to how things were.

 

* * *

 

 

It takes two days to get to Naboo. Two long days, in which Anakin and Padmé talk about everything except the fallen Republic, Palpatine, and what Anakin did to Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Instead, Anakin entertains Padmé with his aptitude the Force, as he sends various items spinning across the ship. He creates a ballet out of the things he finds, a private performance for his wife.

For a few blissful days, Padmé thinks that maybe it could be like it used to. They go on picnics, explore the Lake Country, even visit Theed. 

It was too good to be true, Padmé thinks as she runs away with Anakin.

 

* * *

 

 

Anakin sits with his head in his hands.

What wouldn’t he give to have Padmé with him right now? A rogue force-user was all it took to take Padmé away from him. He should have been able to save her. He doesn’t know why he didn’t. 

In his sorrow, Anakin reaches out unknowingly with the Force. Datapads and other rubbish float into the air around him, trembling slightly. 

And then suddenly, the Emperor’s voice comes back to him in a moment of sudden clarity: “He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.”

Anakin’s eyes fly open, and all the objects drop to the ground as he sprints out of his room.

 

* * *

 

“My master,” Anakin says, kneeling before the Emperor. His eyes flicker between yellow and blue, as if toxic lightning were flashing across a spring sky.

“Lord Vader,” Palpatine says, the vile name he insists on using for Anakin. “What is it that you require?”

“Padmé,” Anakin says hoarsely, and that’s all he can manage.

“Padmé is dead,” Palpatine says, a hint of amusement rolling off his tongue.

“You said you could bring people back from the dead,” Anakin snaps.

Palpatine smiles, and says, “Very well, Lord Vader, Padmé is yours. I warn you, though — any break in concentration, even opening your eyes — Padmé will be lost forever.”

Anakin nods mutely, and Padmé’s body is brought in.

She looks almost peaceful in death, save for the gaping hole in her chest.

“Close your eyes, Vader, feel the Force around you, and pull Padmé back into this realm,” Palpatine says, and his voice sounds distant to Anakin. “You will find her, if you look far enough.”

Anakin reaches out in the Force, searching for Padmé. He reaches across the galaxy and further. He reaches into the intangible lengths of the Force itself, the place that no living being should ever go.

And then he finds her. 

She’s beautiful, more beautiful than Anakin has ever seen her, her face lit up by the brilliant glow of the Force. She’s mouthing something, but Anakin doesn’t care. He pulls her towards him, bringing her back with him. They travel across the universe, across the stars, and Anakin starts to hear the sounds of the room around him again.

He starts to hear Padmé too. It’s a muffled, quiet sound, only just audible. 

“Anakin!” she shouts. “Anakin!”

“Padmé,” Anakin whispers reverently in return. 

“Anakin, it’s unnatural!” she says. “You shouldn’t be doing this!”

“I’m saving you Padmé,” Anakin cries through the Force.

If Anakin had his eyes open, he’d be able to see how the wind he was creating was whipping his robes around, things flying everywhere, and the Emperor’s gleeful face.

Padmé’s voice gets steadily louder, and Anakin frowns, eyes still closed. The Emperor’s warning echoed in his head: ” _Any break in concentration, even opening your eyes — Padmé will be lost forever._ ”

Anakin screws up his face, pulling Padmé towards him with tiny strings of the Force.

Then suddenly Padmé’s voice is so loud, so close, that he thinks she is beside him.

His eyes fly open, and the wind suddenly stops.

“Padmé,” Anakin gasps, whipping his head around to see her. She is nowhere to be found. Only Padmé’s cold, lifeless body, lying on the ground before him.

“Too late, Lord Vader,” Palpatine’s cold voice echoes across the room, drilling into Anakin’s skull. _Too late, too late, too late._

“No,” Anakin murmurs hoarsely, but even as he says so, Padmé’s body disintegrates, leaving the living world and becoming one with the Force.

“A valiant effort, but to no avail,” Palpatine continues.

Anakin stands up. His hands fly out around him, and he’s only half aware of the fact that the room seems to be being crushed by an invisible hand.

And Palpatine laughs. He laughs at Anakin’s anguish, at the sheer power that radiates from his apprentice. He’s still laughing as the roof crashes down on him. 

Anakin is left standing in the ruins of the old Senate Building, And then he collapses, like the building, and he screams.

 

* * *

 

 

Weeks pass.

Anakin travels across the galaxy, never staying in one place for too long. He is welcome nowhere. He won’t use the Force anymore. He feels he has done enough damage.

The galaxy picks its broken pieces up, tries and fails to go back to the old Republic in the wake of Palpatine’s death. It starts anew, with a new system of government and new territories. 

Anakin doesn’t know or care about the details. He isn’t planning on following any of the rules anyway.

 

* * *

 

 

Anakin wanders the galaxy for the rest of his life, and he dies peacefully in the desert, on a backwater planet called Tatooine.

Authorities don’t recognise him. They call him the Forgotten Man, and they wonder why he chose the desert to die in.

They bury him in that desert. Years later, plants begin to grow. Nothing like this has ever happened in Tatooine. The older people, who were alive when the old Republic existed, blame it on the Force. They call him the Old Jedi, who might come one day to free the slaves.

Anakin Skywalker is strong in the Force. Just not strong enough.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed, I had fun writing this! Please leave kudos and maybe a comment?


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